Category: Culinary / Food

The Casual-Dining heavyweights held on to their positions in the segment ranking this year. Read on for the biggest players in the space, according to U.S. systemwide sales, from Nation’s Restaurant News Top 200 research.

When it comes to fast-food restaurants, consumers have picked their favorite: Chick-Fil-A.

With a score of 87 out of 100, the American Customer Satisfaction Index’s Restaurant Report 2018 named Chick-Fil-A a crowd favorite for the third year in a row, followed by the group of “all other smaller fast food chains” in second place with a score of 82, and Panera Bread in third with a score of 81.

One of today’s most powerful niches is culinary travel—whether that involves a food-related activity or two, or a longer trip focused entirely on food and wine. Given its ever-growing popularity, culinary travel shouldn’t be hard to sell, but agents still need to know the best way to break into the niche.

“Many agents are finding success by partnering with local restaurants and wineries that keep a database of client information,” said Debby Hughes of Distinct Journeys in Loveland, Ohio. “Chefs or sommeliers are often great Pied Pipers, and cruise nights at their locations can stimulate interest and bookings. Many cruise lines can arrange onboard wine tastings, pairings and cooking classes to be led by the chef or sommelier.”

For one sudden, unnerving second, I have become Caligula. The victims are arranged in front of me, impressive in their armour plating – and I have to decide which of them will die tonight for my pleasure; who will survive a little longer. “These two might be the best,” Daniela Kramaric says, identifying a pair of particularly muscular-looking specimens. “But really, this choice is up to you. They are all good.”

The clack of their claws on the platter draws me back to the reality that these are not gladiators destined to battle to the death on a bloody amphitheatre floor, but the scampi who will provide the third act of my dinner. I feel a pang of guilt as I dispatch the two suggested gentlemen to the kitchen, and their dooms. It is a momentary emotion, replaced by a glass of malvasia and Daniela’s reassurance. “The scampi from Kvarner are perfect,” she stresses. “There is just the right level of saltiness in the water, just the right amount of photosynthesis. They don’t have the hard shells of North Sea scampi. They are delicious.”

Automated self-pay tablets, particularly those mounted on dinner tables, have thoroughly infiltrated America’s restaurant chains. Even if advances in technology mean there’s now a shiny new “virtual food hall” called Sous Vide Kitchen in New York and a robot salad-tosser in Boston, tablets have not yet fully replaced the need for old-fashioned smile-wearing, human servers.

Representing everything from neighborhood wine bars serving small plates to opulent palaces with star chefs and elaborate tasting menus, the just-revealed 2018 Restaurant Award winners all share one thing—a passion for exploring and sharing the world of wine, whether through eclectic flights with a sense of fun or cellars laden with well-aged gems from Burgundy and Bordeaux.

This year, Wine Spectator is honoring 3,759 restaurants, located in all 50 states and over 75 countries and territories, for having outstanding wine lists. The awards are given across three categories: Award of Excellence, Best of Award of Excellence and Grand Award.

I am trying to brush up my photography skills in areas I am not overly familiar with. This week it was beer photography, and boy did I learn a lot.

I have made it my mission to do as much personal work and practice as possible in 2018. No amount of marketing and networking will ever replace a high skill set and good portfolio. In the U.K. we have finally hit summer and it’s gloriously hot (for here). Summer always makes me think of fresh cold beers in a small country pub beer garden, so I thought I would take on the challenge of learning how to photograph a pint of beer. Here are a few tips that I picked up to make your beer photography better.

Google Maps gets you directions to where you’re going, but now it can also direct on your quest to try all the best tacos in town.

The redesigned Explore tab announced at I/O in May is now live, giving you personalized recommendations for what to eat, drink, and do. Lists from Google’s algorithms and human curators can help you find the area’s best burgers, pizza, cocktails, and more, and if you’re using an Android phone, it can even guess how much you’ll like a new spot before you step foot in the door.

The new Explorer tab is rolling out to Google Maps on iOS and Android, but if you don’t see it yet, be patient. It’ll just appear in the app—you don’t need to upgrade.